The end of the Canada-EU trade agreement (CETA) technical negotiations are “in sight” [...] EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht said Tuesday. [...]

[...] the EU’s position on ISDS [investor state disupte settlement] — which essentially allows investors to sue governments outside of domestic courts for unfair treatment — has evolved as a result of their Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) talks with the U.S.

And a European public consultation that ended on July 13 could ultimately result in its exclusion from TTIP. [...] The main concern in Europe appears to be that American corporations — as in NAFTA’s Chapter 11 — could use offices in Canada to file claims. [...] A TTIP exclusion, in other words, might not end up mattering; in many cases, American investors could use CETA, making its final outcome that much more important.

De Gucht addressed that Tuesday. [...] “We have been negotiating that agreement on the basis of a mandate that has been given to us by the Council of Ministers: a unanimous one. And as a result of that, ISDS is in that agreement,” [...].